Today a group of bloggers are celebrating Emily of The Pig & Quill’s virtual baby shower! She’s having a little girl and we’re celebrating the best way we know how, with delicious food. Emily is a food maven who creates the most unique recipes and I thought she might appreciate this umami-rich appetizer.

Our Trader Joe’s just started carrying shishito peppers and I’m already on my 4th bag. They are perfect simply blistered in a skillet of shimmering olive oil and finished with flaky sea salt, but sometimes you want to mix it up. Especially if you’re trying to impress a pregnant girl who loves food.

This recipe is really easy to make and full of flavor. After the peppers are blistered, they’re bathed in a lemon-miso dressing and then finished with parmesan and sesame seeds. I suggest you make a double batch because they’re hard to share.

Check out the other recipes for Emily’s virtual baby shower below and look for#emspigletparty on social media! Thanks for hosting the party, Gina and Sherrie!

Miso-Parmesan Shishito Peppers

Wash and dry shishito peppers, but keep the stems on. Holding them by the stem makes them easy to eat. 1 or 2 shishito peppers in every batch tend to be hot, but most of them will be mild. Look for gluten-free white miso to keep this gluten-free.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

6 ounces shishito peppers

1/2 lemon, freshly squeezed

1 tablespoon white miso

1 1/2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon white sesame seeds

1/2 teaspoon black sesame seeds

Instructions

In a large skillet, add oil and heat over medium heat until the oil is shimmering, but not smoking. Add shishito peppers and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, turning every so often until soft and blistered with only a slight char in places.

While peppers are cooking, whisk together miso and lemon juice in a small bowl.

Once peppers are done, transfer to a medium bowl and drizzle with miso + lemon juice mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan and sesame seeds. Toss to evenly coat and serve.

Recipe from Nicole Dula at http://www.dulanotes.com/miso-parmesan-shishito-peppers/

YES!!! I’ve been SO excited to see this recipe go up!!! Miso and parmesan sound like the most unexpectedly amazing flavor pairing — I would have never thought to pair them but now that you have I’m dying to try it! And on shishito peppers…. absolute spicy-savory perfection. These are incredible, Nicole!

I do appreciate this umami-rich appetizer, Nicole — I really DO! So many savory flavors, I don’t know where my tastebuds would even start. Thank you SO much for joining the fun and helping to celebrate our own little shishito (shishitA?)…she’s such a lucky little nug! <3

Oooh, these look divine! I’m always amazed at how many different types of peppers there are in the world–I don’t think I’ve ever had shishito but you have me intrigued. Hopping by TJs to see if they’re at mine!

Thanks, Sara! I first had them in San Francisco while on vacation, but now Trader Joe’s sells them! Most of them are as mild as a poblano pepper, but one or two in each batch is spicy. It’s strange how it works out like that every time!

being half japanese, i have been eating chargrilled shishito my entire life. i bought some at the market today with this recipe in mind. it was sooooooo delicious. had i not controlled myself, i would have drank that lemon miso yummyness all on its own (i licked the bowl without shame). thank you thank you thank you 🙂 i will be dragging this idea back into my test kitchen and applying it in other recipe constructs… many, many, many other constructs. cheers~